92 CORNISH DOLMENS. 



of dolmens, might liave been easily reached from Scotland, and 

 I will not dwell on the fact that many dolmens in Brittany stand 

 on islands, because the Breton coast has been sinking ever since 

 the Eoman conquest of France. Nor will I refer to the dolmens 

 in the Channel Islands, for tradition says that Jersey was in the 

 time of Julius Ctesar so closely connected with the mainland 

 that only a plank was needed at high water to cross the sj)ace 

 between them.^* But these reasons will not explain the presence 

 of dolmens in Corsica, which is 50 miles from land and surrounded 

 by deep water ; nor their occurrence in the island of Bahrein in 

 the Persian Gulf, which is at a similar distance from the shore. 

 To reach these islands the dolmen-builders must have had vessels 

 of no small size, and able to make lengthy voyages. 



It is true that there are breaks and gaps in the dolmen-line 

 but these can be easily explained. In regions where the soil 

 consists of sand or clay no large stones could be obtained but, as 

 Sir John Evans has pointed out,** this must be stated carefully. 

 Thus, in Northern Prussia the soil is sandy, but the country is 

 covered with large erratic boulders, which are derived from the 

 Scandinavian mountains,^" and which would furnish excellent 

 material for the construction of dolmens. The coast-line, also, 

 has changed in many districts, land having been raised in some 

 regions,^' and depressed in others. The gaps in the dolmen-line, 

 however, are better explained when we realise the maritime 

 character of the dolmen builders. Their settlements (like those 

 of the Phoenicians) were at isolated points, because they coasted 

 along the shores and only penetrated inland occasionally, when 

 they settled for a long time in a jjarticular district. 



In connection with the geographical distribution of the 

 dolmens we may notice the remarkable trilithons,^^ resembling 

 those of Stonehenge, which occur in many countries. The 

 extraordinary megalithic monument of Hhagiar Kliim in 



34. Stanford's Compendium of Geography— Europe, pp. 59, 60. 



35. Journal of the Anthropological Institute vol. iv. (1875) p. 348. 



36. Geikie's Prehistoric Europe, pp. 171, 172. 



37. As is the case in land near the mouth of the Rhone. See The Mediterranean, 

 by Admiral Smyth, p, 13. 



38. Formed of three gigantic stone slabs— two uprighs and a cross piece laid 

 over their tops. 



